Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed the Commerce Department on Friday for failing to restrict an Nvidia customer at the center of CEO Jensen Huang's spy-sex scandal. 

Bessent said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was too permissive of Nvidia's sales of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China, and it should have put restrictions on Megaspeed from exporting the chips, Bessent said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." 

Bessent said the State Department wanted to put restrictions on the Nvidia customer for months, but the Commerce Department tied its hands. 

Last Thursday, Bessent confronted Lutnick over why his department hadn't taken action, The Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed Trump administration official.

Bessent joins lawmakers and others who are scrutinizing Lutnick's oversight of the chipmaking giant's sales to China. 

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott sent letters to Huang and Lutnick, seeking their testimonies on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, and Lutnick agreed Thursday to testify in front of the Senate Banking Committee next month amid bipartisan pressure over his friendship with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

The letters come hours after Huang resigned his post over at least one extramarital affair and allegations of another. One of those alleged relationships was with an alleged female Chinese spy.

Scott requested that Lutnick testify in a public hearing “regarding recent public reports about Nvidia and the Department of Commerce’s role that raises national security concerns.”

“Given the Department of Commerce’s central role in issuing and enforcing export control regulations, your testimony before the Committee will be essential in our oversight of these efforts,” Scott wrote.